Fallen Angels (audio story)

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You may be looking for Fallen Angel (short story).

Fallen Angels was the first story in Classic Doctors, New Monsters: Volume One, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Phil Mulryne and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor.

Publisher's summary

2015: When sightseers Joel and Gabby Finch encounter a strange man in Edwardian cricketing garb in the Sistine Chapel, their honeymoon suddenly takes a terrifying turn.

1511: Michelangelo is commissioned to create some very special sculptures by a mysterious sect. But as he carves, angels seem to emerge fully-formed from the rock. Almost as if they are alive...

From Michelangelo's workshop to the catacombs of Rome, the Fifth Doctor must keep his wits about him and his eyes wide open as he confronts the Weeping Angels.

Plot

Upon arriving in the Vatican City in 2015, newly-weds Joel and Gabby Finch begin visiting all of Michelangelo's work, touring around such sites as the Sistine Chapel, but they soon discover that one of Michel's most famous pieces; his statue of Moses, is not on the tour and is supposedly locked away in another church (part of the building known as 'tomb of Julius II'). Not wanting to have come all the way to not see one of the most iconic pieces of work that Michel ever created, Joel insists that they break into the locked room but Gabby holds back, not wanting to get into any trouble. Eventually, she's persuaded to follow Joel into the room when he tells her that she'd be left alone outside if she didn't join him. Once all the other tourists leave, they venture in through a locked door and are once again disappointed to discover that Michelangelo's statue is not there. However, this time there's another statue in its place; a sole figure of an angel.

They are then interrupted by a man who praises the angel and admires its beauty. He begins to explain that it belonged to the religious order known as 'the three angels'. He insists that Joel and Gabby gaze upon the statue once more, as unbeknown to them he wants the angel to hypnotise them (just as it had done to the other members of the order). Joel and Gabby try to protest but the angel suddenly leaps forward and points at the pair of them when nobody was looking. The man tells them that the angel has chosen them, he explains that they kept three candles burning until the angel had chosen its next victim and then the candles would be blown out, plunging the room into darkness - to ensure that the victim couldn't freeze the angel with their vision. Joel and Gabby try to put up a fight, which angers the man who is furious that they were trying to defy the angel. A scuffle breaks out between the three of them as the man stops them from leaving the room. In the scuffle, the candles are knocked over and the flames are extinguished. In the darkness, Gabby tries to reach for her phone but she is too slow and the angel touches the pair of them, sending them back in time. Once they vanish, the man lights the candles again and begins praising the angel once more. He is pleased that he had been able to feed his master and knew that because of his success, the angel would keep him on as its servant instead of sending him back in time like the others.

The TARDIS materialises on Earth in 1511 and the Fifth Doctor steps out. Whilst he surveys the scene, he is shocked to discover a young woman in 21st-century clothing. Surrounding the woman are a crowd of locals who at first believed she was a Saint due to her appearing out of nowhere, like a miracle, but soon started believing she was a witch after seeing her mobile phone. While the crowd becomes adamant that she should be seized, the Doctor steps in to cover for her by telling the crowd that they are sightseers from out of town. Once the crowd breaks up, the Doctor introduces himself and is surprised when the young woman; who introduces herself as Gabby, explains that she already knew him from their meeting back at the Sistine Chapel in 2015. Gabby explains to the Doctor that she cannot remember the specifics of their meeting at the Sistine to which he replied that she was suffering from Temporary Chronological Displacement Deterioration (or 'TCDD' for short). Gabby begins to worry for her husband, Joel.

Whilst working on an order for a statue, Michelangelo is infuriated when he is indirectly asked to work faster by the Priest who is waiting to collect the work. He furiously explains how he doesn't rush his work on the 'vaults of the Sistine' despite doing the work for the Pope. He tells the Priest that he should find someone else to complete the work, ignoring the Priest's pleas. A young man then bursts into the room interrupting the Priest and Michelangelo's argument. Michel furiously asks him how he came to be in his workyard but the young man was too stunned to be in Michel's presence to answer. After revealing his name, Joel, the young man begins to praise Michel's work calling him "the greatest painter who ever lived". Warming to Joel, Michel invites him inside to stay for the night whilst also telling the Priest to leave, however, despite his former claims, he announces that he'd still continue the work on the Priest's statue. Once Michel had left, the Priest begins talking to the unfinished statue claiming that Michel had seen the angel in the block of stone and that it would not be long until the angel was "set free".

The Doctor and Gabby later arrive at the Chapel looking for Joel. They admire the ceiling before Gabby remembers something. In a flashback to 2015, Gabby remembers that Joel had noticed that a portion of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was missing. The Doctor had then approached them and told them that, according to the brochure at the Chapel, Michelangelo had gone missing before ever completing the painting. Joel had been very insistent that it wasn't true, to which the Doctor agreed and advised the pair to go and check on the other works created by Michelangelo. This led to them arriving at the Church of San Pietro where they broke into the 'tomb of Pope Julius II' to see if the statue of Moses was there or not. The same place where they had been touched by the angel.

to be added

Cast

Worldbuilding

Individuals

Literature

Beverages

  • Joel says that he accidentally invented the sandwich; the Doctor says that's impossible because he created the sandwich.

Cultural references

Species

  • The Doctor considers the Weeping Angels to be the most humane psychopaths in the universe.

Notes

  • This is the first appearance of the Weeping Angels in audio form.
  • This story is the first appearance of Sacha Dhawan in the Doctor Who universe. He would go on to play the Spy Master, first appearing in Spyfall.
  • A vinyl version was released at selective Asda stores on 25 September 2020.
  • This story was released on BBC Sounds on 15 November 2023 as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, under the banner title of Doctor Who: The Audio Adventures.[1]

Continuity

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gsxqhf
v • e
Classic Series - Special Releases
Excelis Saga
Bonus Releases
DWM Free Gifts
Classic Doctors,
New Monsters
Volume One
Volume Two
The Stuff of
Nightmares
Broken Memories
Other releases
Single releases
The Comic Strip
Adaptations:
Volume One
The Legacy
of Time
Peladon
Sontarans vs Rutans
v • e
Weeping Angel sources
For the purposes of this list, a "Weeping Angel story" is one in which one living, authentic Weeping Angel plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Lost, The Halloween Apocalypse and Once, Upon Time are not counted due to the Weeping Angels' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as Survivors of the Flux are absent due to the Weeping Angels' only contribution being references to past Weeping Angel stories, and stories such as The God Complex are absent due to the Weeping Angels' only contribution being as illusions. Stories like Hell Bent and Revolution of the Daleks are also not included due to the Weeping Angels' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story.
Television
Webcast
Audio
Prose
Comics
Video games
Stage plays
Exhibits
Complete list of appearances
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